what time should we look at flights out of London after docking in Southampton

[courtneyMC]

Hi,

I know there is more than one airport in London, I have no idea which airport we'd be using...  But can anyone give me some guidance as to timing for a flight home to the US after docking in Southampton?   I couldn't find a good way to search for this topic although I imagine it's been addressed before.   What is the earliest flight time you'd suggest even considering, and from which airport? 

 

thank you!

[Paula_MacFan]

Not sure what cruise line you will be using, but they should provide you guidelines for flights.  We are sailing on Princess and our paperwork states the following:    

 

AIR FLIGHT GUIDELINES

If you have purchased independent air arrangements, please ensure your air schedule falls within these guidelines as Princess is not responsible for making any alternate arrangements or for any out of pocket expenses that may arise should you miss your cruise or cruisetour and/or return flight. The times listed below are subject to change.
Embarkation: Heathrow - Latest international flight arrival: 5 hours prior to the ship's departure. Latest domestic flight arrival: 4 hours, 30 minutes prior to the ship's departure. Gatwick - Latest international flight arrival: 5 hours, 30 minutes prior to the ship's scheduled departure. Latest domestic flight arrival: 5 hours prior to the ship's departure.
Disembarkation: Heathrow - Earliest flight departure: 7 hours after the ship's arrival. Gatwick - Earliest flight departure: 7 hours, 30 minutes after the ship's scheduled arrival.

 

 

[courtneyMC]

Perfect, thank you!  Haven't booked anything yet - but looking into it and wondering if we'd need to stay over an extra night on both ends or whatever due to the distance to the port.

[Paula_MacFan]

I'm sure some others will chime in that have personal experience too.  We plan to use the ship's transfer back to London as well, since it's a 2 hour drive and we don't want to chance missing our flight.  On Princess the transfer is $59 per person, at least for our particular itinerary.  We plan to book flights through Princess too, so everything will be coordinated and we don't have to worry about anything.  

[dani negreanu]

It also depends on the day of the week. Last time our cruise ended on a Sunday (as well as our next). So the travel time to LHR was less than 2 hours, and we were left with too much time "to kill".

We used Smiths for airports for the transfers, they were right on time. Value for money.

We ate b'fast leisurely before leaving the ship, were among the last out.

We've used Princess's transfers the first time we sailed out of Southampton, it was expensive, and we lingered hours in the bus, while they were "hunting" for people who took their time to debark. No more ship transfers for us.....

[courtneyMC]

how much was your airport ride not thru the cruiseline?  was that semi recent or a long time ago? thanks! 

[dani negreanu]

2 hours ago, courtneyMC said:

how much was your airport ride not thru the cruiseline?  was that semi recent or a long time ago? thanks! 

 

It was less than 4 years ago, ~90 pounds (door (pier) to door (airport)).

I've just filled out a form asking for a quote for our next cruise in April, they replied to try again less than 6 months before the cruise.

If your cruise is less than 6 months from now, I suggest to ask, like me, for a free quote --

www.smithsairportcars.co.uk

 

[John Bull]

For the vast majority of ships, unassisted disembarkation at Southampton starts around 7 am, with regular disembarkation starting at 7.30.

 

By road, Heathrow airport is a bare minimum 90 minutes on sundays & most saturdays, up to 2 or 2.5 hours on weekdays.

A pre-booked car will cost somewhere south of £100

A bus (ship's transfers or National Express) takes mebbe 15 minutes longer, but  you need to add a significant amount of time before your journey starts - the first ship's transfer buses depart about 8 - 8.30 am, for National Express you need a short taxi hop to Southampton coach station and are also limited by the bus' infrequent departure times.

There's no sensible rail alternative to Heathrow.

 

By road Gatwick is something under 2hrs on sundays & most saturdays, 2.5 to 3 hrs on a busy weekday.

A pre-booked car will cst somewhere north of £100.

Buses take about the same time but again limited by departure times.

Except on sundays there's a direct hourly train, takes about 2 hrs & the station is in the airport.  Again needs a taxi hop at Southampton,  &  again limited by the train departure times. On sundays it's a convoluted journey with changes of train, not sensible..

 

Ships offer their transfer buses for both airports. Some folk prefer the simplicity of this, but it's not the way to go if time is short, and  it's poor value (though Princess' $59 is actually much cheaper than RCI, Celebrity or Cunard).

 

Airports suggest arriving 3 hours before flight time - that's a very belt-and-braces approach, 2 hours in enough.

 

So the earliest flight I'd advise for Heathrow is around 11am on saturdays & sundays and 11.30  on weekdays.

For Gatwick flights the earliest I'd advise is 11.30 on sat / sun and 12.15 for weekdays.

Those times provided that you disembark unassisted at 7 am, with a private transfer car booked for 7.15.

Those times allow only a little wiggle-room - IMHO worth the small risk for the only flight of the day, but much less stressful to take a later flight if available. A later flight also opens the prospects of a more leisurely disembarkation and cheaper public transport to the airport.

 

A very few trans-Atlantic flights arrive at London's City Airport.

Transfers to / from there will take a lot longer

 

And do check your earliest disembarkation time with your cruise line before booking air - but if they say something like 5 am they're wrong, because that's about the time ships sail in 

 

BTW - there's little difference in the ease and cost of travelling between Southampton (or central London) and Heathrow or Gatwick.  So I suggest you don't worry which airport, concentrate instead on air fares and convenience from your own airport.

 

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

 

JB 

Edited August 13, 2019 by John Bull

[scottbee]

3 hours ago, John Bull said:

For the vast majority of ships, unassisted disembarkation at Southampton starts around 7 am, with regular disembarkation starting at 7.30....

 

By road, Heathrow airport .....

 

Often overlooked are a couple of other options

1) BHX/Birmingham airport; while a fair distance from Southampton is only 15 mins more by direct hourly rail service than Gatwick

2) Fly out of SOU/Southampton (only 15 mins from the port) and change in Paris or Amsterdam

 

 

[courtneyMC]

6 hours ago, John Bull said:

For the vast majority of ships, unassisted disembarkation at Southampton starts around 7 am, with regular disembarkation starting at 7.30.

 

By road, Heathrow airport is a bare minimum 90 minutes on sundays & most saturdays, up to 2 or 2.5 hours on weekdays.

A pre-booked car will cost somewhere south of £100

A bus (ship's transfers or National Express) takes mebbe 15 minutes longer, but  you need to add a significant amount of time before your journey starts - the first ship's transfer buses depart about 8 - 8.30 am, for National Express you need a short taxi hop to Southampton coach station and are also limited by the bus' infrequent departure times.

There's no sensible rail alternative to Heathrow.

 

By road Gatwick is something under 2hrs on sundays & most saturdays, 2.5 to 3 hrs on a busy weekday.

A pre-booked car will cst somewhere north of £100.

Buses take about the same time but again limited by departure times.

Except on sundays there's a direct hourly train, takes about 2 hrs & the station is in the airport.  Again needs a taxi hop at Southampton,  &  again limited by the train departure times. On sundays it's a convoluted journey with changes of train, not sensible..

 

Ships offer their transfer buses for both airports. Some folk prefer the simplicity of this, but it's not the way to go if time is short, and  it's poor value (though Princess' $59 is actually much cheaper than RCI, Celebrity or Cunard).

 

Airports suggest arriving 3 hours before flight time - that's a very belt-and-braces approach, 2 hours in enough.

 

So the earliest flight I'd advise for Heathrow is around 11am on saturdays & sundays and 11.30  on weekdays.

For Gatwick flights the earliest I'd advise is 11.30 on sat / sun and 12.15 for weekdays.

Those times provided that you disembark unassisted at 7 am, with a private transfer car booked for 7.15.

Those times allow only a little wiggle-room - IMHO worth the small risk for the only flight of the day, but much less stressful to take a later flight if available. A later flight also opens the prospects of a more leisurely disembarkation and cheaper public transport to the airport.

 

A very few trans-Atlantic flights arrive at London's City Airport.

Transfers to / from there will take a lot longer

 

And do check your earliest disembarkation time with your cruise line before booking air - but if they say something like 5 am they're wrong, because that's about the time ships sail in 

 

BTW - there's little difference in the ease and cost of travelling between Southampton (or central London) and Heathrow or Gatwick.  So I suggest you don't worry which airport, concentrate instead on air fares and convenience from your own airport.

 

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

 

JB 

thank you SO much, this is exactly the kind of info I need!  We'll be doing NCL but not til next summer so lots of time- more trying to plan where we should look for flights if that mattered (sounds like it doesn't) and how much to budget for transfers.  If we'd done NCL air they were adding $130 usd/pp. 

 

When you say the private car is upwards of 100Pounds, is that per person or for the car- we will have 3 people. 

 

thanks for your help!

[John Bull]

5 hours ago, scottbee said:

Often overlooked are a couple of other options

1) BHX/Birmingham airport; while a fair distance from Southampton is only 15 mins more by direct hourly rail service than Gatwick

2) Fly out of SOU/Southampton (only 15 mins from the port) and change in Paris or Amsterdam

 

We used Birmingham one time, for a cheap late Spanish break. On the return trip the aircraft flew over my home before landing in Birmingham. We got home about 4 hours after we'd flown over it.

At about 2hrs 30 mins from Southampton by road or rail, Birmingham is worthy of consideration though I suspect it will rarely be a preference because of the wide choce of flights into LHR & LGW..

 

Yes, direct flights between Southampton and Paris CDG, AMS & other European destinations.

Total cost is significantly higher than via Gatwick or Heathrow, so it's rarely worthwhile - but a great option for those who want to spend a few pre-cruise days in one of those cities..

 

 

2 hours ago, courtneyMC said:

thank you SO much, this is exactly the kind of info I need!  We'll be doing NCL but not til next summer so lots of time- more trying to plan where we should look for flights if that mattered (sounds like it doesn't) and how much to budget for transfers.  If we'd done NCL air they were adding $130 usd/pp. 

 

When you say the private car is upwards of 100Pounds, is that per person or for the car- we will have 3 people. 

 

thanks for your help!

 

$130 for a transfer is even heavier than RCI, Celebrity & Cunard. 

Or is that for both ways?

 

Something a little over £100 for a private transfer from Gatwick is per car, not pp.

Our usual taxi operator uses mid-size sedans & estate cars (station-wagons), they should take 3 pax + 3 cases + 3 cabin cases.

Last time we used them for Gatwick was earlier this year & they charged us £170 total for both ways. Like most operators that's discounted for return journeys, and we do get preferential rates. 

https://www.ajconnecttaxis.co.uk

Others frequently recommended on Cruise Critic include

www.smithsforairports.com and www.westquaycars.com and www.aquacars.co.uk and www.blackberrycars.com

 

JB 

[fabnfortysomething]

we used Blackberry cars last month

pre cruise just the 2 of us with luggage from central London to Southampton

2 hours in saloon car £110 total

 

post cruise we got together with 2 couples from roll call and 2 drop offs Heathrow and final drop off central London

just over 1 1/2 hours to Heathrow  total cost in 8 seater £175 so just under £30 per person

 

[shoreham01]

Please remember that if there are road works or accidents the journey by car can take very much longer.  Over here if there is an accident the road can close for hours, fine if you can get off the road and take an alternative route but if you are stuck stationary then you have no option but to sit it out and miss your flight.  Sorry to be pessimistic but road closures happen far too often.  If possible then you are always best to book in to a hotel at the airport and stay the night before flying out.  We always stay in Southampton the night before a cruise and we only live a couple of hours along the coast.  

[Paula_MacFan]

1 hour ago, shoreham01 said:

Please remember that if there are road works or accidents the journey by car can take very much longer.  Over here if there is an accident the road can close for hours, fine if you can get off the road and take an alternative route but if you are stuck stationary then you have no option but to sit it out and miss your flight.  Sorry to be pessimistic but road closures happen far too often.  If possible then you are always best to book in to a hotel at the airport and stay the night before flying out.  We always stay in Southampton the night before a cruise and we only live a couple of hours along the coast.  

This is why we are using the ship's transfer method -- if there's a problem, they will take care of our flight arrangements.  It's not worth saving $50 a person or whatever for me -- I'd rather have peace of mind.  

[nini]

You may find more detailed answers/ experiences on the "Cruise Air" forum.

That is where I researched last year for our flight info for the Mediterranean.

[scottbee]

On 8/13/2019 at 11:40 AM, courtneyMC said:

thank you SO much, this is exactly the kind of info I need!  We'll be doing NCL but not til next summer so lots of time- more trying to plan where we should look for flights if that mattered (sounds like it doesn't) and how much to budget for transfers.  If we'd done NCL air they were adding $130 usd/pp. 

 

When you say the private car is upwards of 100Pounds, is that per person or for the car- we will have 3 people. 

 

thanks for your help!

 

you can often get direct Southampton - Gatwick train tickets for under GBP10/ea; and Southampton Central is 20 minute walk or cheap cab ride from the cruise terminal (although I'm not sure where NCL docks vs RCCL).